


The Evolution of Kasamatsu "Tiger" Yukio

by orphan_account



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Embarrassment, M/M, Nicknames, shameless fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-25
Updated: 2012-08-25
Packaged: 2017-11-12 20:48:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 718
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/495486
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Takes place sometime in the future. Kise’s propensity for giving nicknames leads to some horrifyingly embarrassing times for one Kasamatsu Yukio.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Evolution of Kasamatsu "Tiger" Yukio

By the time Yukio graduates high school, he's managed to collect a plethora of nicknames, all of them originating from Kise. He would rather Kise just call him "Kasamatsu" or "senpai" or even "Yukio." But of course Kise would have to insist on names like Kasamacchi, or one horrifying time, Yukicchi. Even kicking Kise and yelling that he was a grown-ass man didn't change Kise's mind. 

"Tiger" doesn't seem so horrible in comparison. Yukio even likes it. He grumbles the first time Kise calls him that, but Kise sounds so adoring that it makes Yukio's stomach flutter. 

His stomach does the opposite of flutter when Kise calls him that in front of his new team though. Yukio's more than happy to be in Rizing Fukuoka, and he likes his teammates, but it's horrifying to have Kise kiss him and say, "Go get 'em, tiger" in the locker room right before his first pro game. He can feel his stomach sinking as Kise flutters his fingers in goodbye and leaves the room. 

The locker room erupts in laughter. "Don't," Yukio groans, but his teammates just hoot, "I bet you'll get them for sure, tiger!" 

From then on, every time they have a game, his teammates say, "Make sure to get them, tiger." Yukio is still the rookie on the team, so he just grimaces when it happens. At least his teammates don't think the ridiculous nickname reflects on his skills as a basketball player, and when they start calling him tiger on the court, too, it's not so much teasing as admiring. (They still laugh about "Go get 'em, tiger" though.) 

Yukio wants to die when the press picks up on the nickname. The first time there's a headline that proclaims "Rising point guard Kasamatsu 'Tiger' Yukio" he buries his face in his hands and hopes that all the newspapers that carry that headline will spontaneously combust into flame. 

The commentators love calling him that, and his friends text him about it. He even gets a text from Takao that says "Congrats on the win, Tiger-san!" after a game, which he sincerely hopes Midorima doesn't see, because there was one horrifying time in high school when Midorima apparently thought that Takao was in love with Yukio (according to Kise), and Yukio lived in fear that Midorima was plotting his slow and painful death. 

"You're going to be the death of me," Yukio tells Kise after another profile refers to him as Rizing's "Tiger." Kise should be studying for his finals, but he'd insisted on daily phone calls, and Yukio misses hearing his voice. Even though he was the one who told Kise not to cry when he left, long-distance relationships are hard. 

"I think it's a good nickname, though," Kise says, laughing. "It means they think you're a fierce player." 

"It's embarrassing! If you were here right now I'd kick you for it." 

"Wah, senpai is so mean!" 

"Yeah, yeah, you say that all the time, but you're still here, aren't you?" 

"Always," Kise promises, and Kasamatsu gets embarrassingly choked up, so for a while there's only the sound of Kise turning some pages. Knowing Kise, he's just doodling in the margins of his notebook and not studying at all. 

"Hey," Kise finally says, breaking the silence. 

"Yeah?" 

"I miss you, tiger." 

Yukio can't help the way his heart expands when Kise says that. Even though he's heard it so often by now, the nickname sounds different when it's Kise. It's softer, more full of meaning. There's an entire relationship behind it, so many nights of lying in bed with Kise while Kise kisses his forehead, his eyelids, his mouth, murmuring endearments. Yukio is still surprised, after all this time, that Kise is as gone over for him as he is for Kise, and that he can be reminded by something as ridiculous as that nickname. 

"I miss you too," he says, hoping he doesn't sound like a complete sap. Kise can probably tell, anyway. 

"Tiger" is still a horrible nickname, but Yukio's more or less stuck with it. He'll try not to mind it too much when other people call him that, too, because in the end it's still Kise's name for him, and that's something that's theirs and only theirs. Yukio thinks he can live with that.


End file.
